Hamilton - Attorney General Peter C. Harvey and State Police Superintendent Colonel Rick Fuentes today announced the arrest of 39 people on child pornography charges resulting from a landmark investigation in which detectives used new technology to detect child pornography files shared over the Internet, then traced them to the computers on which they were stored.

Dubbed Operation Guardian, the child pornography investigation was conducted by New Jersey State Police detectives from the Child Protection and Cyber-Crime Bureau, working in conjunction with the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force and the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice within the Office of the Attorney General.

According to Harvey, those arrested range in age from 14 to 61, and include a high-school hockey coach, a lawyer and a pediatric neurosurgeon. Detectives seized many computers containing still photos and video images of child pornography. Among the images were a series of video clips showing the molestation and rape of a five-year-old girl in Georgia by a man now serving a 45-year prison term. In a number of cases, investigators found evidence of child pornography despite the presence of computer software designed to permanently erase files and remove Web site traces.

"We will prosecute anyone who knowingly downloads from the Internet and circulates images of children who are being sexually exploited," Harvey said during a press briefing at the state-of-the-art New Jersey State Police Technology Center here. "We will do everything we can to stop adults who abuse, exploit and hurt children, whether over the Internet or in the community. Through technology and training, we are constantly enhancing our ability to do just that."

The investigation was spawned by the innovative use of a file sifting technology by Special Agent Flynt Waters of the Wyoming Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Over a two-day monitoring period, this software detected images of child pornography and traced them to 42 computer addresses in New Jersey that received and/or offered to circulate them. Troopers worked with Deputy Attorneys General from the Division of Criminal Justice to prepare subpoenas leading to 38 search warrants, which were executed between January 17 and January 27 of this year.

Colonel Rick Fuentes voiced a sense of urgency for the continuation of these investigations.
"Every time another person transmits these sickening images, the children depicted in them are victimized all over again," Fuentes said. "We want everyone to know that those dealing in child porn are on our radar, and we're closing in."

"This is not an issue of what people do in the privacy of their homes," Fuentes added. "We're interrupting criminal careers. We believe that viewing and transmitting these videos is part of a timeline that may lead to stalking and criminal sexual contact with children."

Some of the most disturbing evidence uncovered on seized computer media included a series of clips showing James Bidwell in the act of molesting and raping a five-year-old girl. Bidwell, of Toccoa, Georgia, was arrested after sending videotapes of these crimes to Canada and England. Late in 2002, he pleaded guilty to rape and child molestation charges and was sentenced to 30 years. Federal charges related to the creation and distribution of child pornography tacked an additional 15 years of jail time to Bidwell's sentence.

In addition to the seizure of computers and images of child pornography, Operation Guardian detectives seized a cache of weapons, including assault rifles and some illegal drugs. Several spin-off investigations have already begun.

Experts at State Police Headquarters in the Child Protection and Cyber-Crimes Bureau will examine some computer evidence from this case while the bulk of the computer media will be dissected by the N.J. Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory (RCFL), located on the site of today's press announcement. Unveiled in February of 2004, the RCFL is an FBI-sponsored venture that includes the New Jersey State Police, the Division of Criminal Justice within the Office of the Attorney General.

"The pervasiveness of child pornography online is a major concern for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children," stated its President and CEO Ernie Allen. "Reports of child pornography to our CyberTipline have grown from 76,000 in 2003 to 106,000 last year. We are grateful for the collaborative work of the New Jersey State Police, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the many other agencies for their roles in Operation Guardian. This is a tremendous example of how improved technology, law enforcement training, and teamwork can make a difference."

NCMEC's CyberTipline, at www.cybertipline.com or 1-800-843-5678, is a reporting mechanism for child sexual exploitation. Since its inception in 1998, analysts have handled more than 300,000 reports with approximately 91% of those categorized as child pornography.

While a significant success, Operation Guardian is not the first time the State has undertaken a major, multi-agency initiative to combat child pornography. Operation Web Sweep, an effort spearheaded by the Division of Criminal Justice, resulted in the shutdown of a Web site featuring child pornography, the seizure of computer equipment and software, and the identification of hundreds of child pornography suspects in New Jersey, throughout the United States and in other countries. Operation Web Sweep involved an unprecedented "reverse sting" in cyber-space designed by the Division of Criminal Justice's Computer Analysis and Technology Unit (CATU). Additional law enforcement resources and expertise were provided by the FBI, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and more than 65 international, federal, state, county and local law enforcement agencies.

Agencies cooperating with the New Jersey State Police in
Operation Guardian include:

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

FBI

Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office

Long Branch P.D.

Roxbury P.D.

Division of Criminal Justice

N.J. Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory

U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Child Exploitation Group

19 county prosecutor's offices

36 municipal police departments

Subjects arrested in Operation Guardian
listed by County:

Matthew
D. Fletcher, Sr.

33

Egg
Hbr. Twp/Atl.

Poss/Dist and weapons chgs

Christopher
J. McGovern

21

Galloway/Atlantic

Possession/Distribution

Juvenile

15

Lyndhurst/Bergen

Possession/Distribution

Shane
Binns

47

New
Milford/Bgn.

Warrants
(spinoff)

Simon
D. Debran

35

Garfield/Bergen

Possession/Distribution

Maximo
V. Paulino, Jr

19

New
Milford/Bgn.

Possession/Distribution

Mark
A. Jackson

37

Cinnaminson/Burl.

Possession/Distribution

Thomas
A. Pernicello

53

Mt.
Holly/Burl.

Poss.
Marijuana (spinoff)

Juvenile

16

Clementon/Camden

Possession/Distribution

Peter
J. Volk

61

Ocean
Cty/Cape May

Possession/Distribution

Juvenile

17

Millville/Cumb.

Possession/Distribution

Kenneth
Carberry

49

Millville/Cumb.

Possession

Robert
Morris

38

Vineland/Cumb.

Possession/Distribution

Juvenile

15

Livingston/Essex

Possession

Jesse
D. Dougherty

22

Glassboro/Glo.

Possession/Distribution

Daniel
J. Dougherty

20

Glassboro/Glo.

Possession/Distribution

James
Blundell, Jr.

36

National
Park/Glo.

Possession/Distribution

Brian
C. Horner

33

Woodbury/Glo.

Possession/Distribution

Juvenile

17

Fort
Lee/Hudson

Possession

Carey
Guillaume

19

Secaucus/Hudson

Possession

Sergio
Sanchez

33

Union
City/Hudson

Possession/Distribution

Juvenile

16

Hamilton/Mercer

Possession/Distribution

Juvenile

15

E
Brunswick/Mdsx

Possession/Distribution

Eric
Szkola

37

Perth
Amboy/Mdsx

Possession/Distribution

Rigoberto
Garro

40

Eatontown/Monm

Possession/Distribution

Adrian
Mendoza

21

Neptune/Monmouth

Possession/Distribution

Ross
B. Finesmith

43

Basking
Rdg/Morris

Possession/Distribution

Andrew
Friedman

27

Morristown/Morris

Possession/Distribution

Blake
Kishpaugh

19

Flander/Morris

Possession/Distribution

Juvenile

14

Brick/Ocean

Not
charged at present

Matthew
Foberg

20

Lakewood/Ocean

Possession/Distribution

Frederick
Krage 5th *

21

Jackson/Ocean

Possession/Distribution

Douglas
R. Hancock

40

Bloomingdale/Pass.

Possession

Joseph
Napoleone

39

Haskell/Passaic

Possession

Richard
R. Newton II

42

Pennsville/Salem

Possession/Distribution

Juvenile

17

Landing/Sussex

Possession/Distribution

Juvenile

15

Hopatcong/Sussex

Possession

Jeffrey
Patti

36

Sparta/Sussex

Possession/Distribution

* Registered Sex OffenderNote regarding juveniles: Some juvenile subjects may
be tried as adultsNote regarding charges: Some subjects charged only
with possession may receive additional charges after a forensic
examination of the evidence in their cases.